Elements of a Bonsai Forest

I stumbled across this European hornbeam (Carpinus betulas) by Walter Pall on his Bonsai Adventures blog. The shot looks like spring with some trees lagging behind others Following up on yesterday’s forest post, here’s one that originally appeared here in 2014. I think it’s one of our best on forests and worth another look Focal point. Without the dominant tree this forest planting by Walter Pall would be a lot less interesting. With the dominant tree contrasted with rest of the trees, the planting has a focal point. With that focal point to organize around, balance, scale, a feeling of age … Continue reading Elements of a Bonsai Forest

A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

It’s a little surprising that there are so few good shots of bonsai in creative settings. This one was borrowed from Peter Warren’s Surayama, as were all the photos in this post. Still catching up form vacation, so for expediency’s sake we’ll plunder our archives. This one is from June 2015. It was titled ‘Surayama – Shimpaku, Spruce & Several Others.‘ NEW SPECIAL 20% OFF BONSAI TURNTABLES INCLUDES GREEN T HYDRAULIC LIFT TURNTABLES – – This photo is from a series Peter calls Noelanders trees. (Noelanders refers to the Noelanders Trophy Exhibit). He doesn’t say what it is, but I’ll guess that … Continue reading A Bonsai in an Unusual Setting (& Others)

A Muscular Monster, Before and After

I found this Picea abies (Norway spruce, aka European spruce) before and after at Mandala Bonsai Ilona. Though it would be great to know just how large this tree is, nothing more than just the type tree and before and after is offered on the timeline This magnificent, muscular monster (sorry!) is from Mandala Bonsai Ilona’s timeline. In this case, the before and after process mostly involves bringing an already well established bonsai back into shape. With one new design element added; the first branch is now a jin (the bark was stripped and the resulting dead branch is left on the tree as an intentional feature). Otherwise, … Continue reading A Muscular Monster, Before and After

Sheer Bonsai Power – Before & After

We usually start Before and After posts with an appropriate B & A photo (see below). But I couldn’t resist this one. I think it captures the essence of the tree. Or at least its size and sheer power I found this impressive before and after pine on Luis Vallejo’s timeline. The only caption provided is… “Hiroaki Suzuki , Pinus sylvestris, Luis Vallejo Bonsái Garden.” We know Luis from numerous posts here on Bark and we also know a bit about Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine). I’m not familiar with Hiroaki Suzuki, but if you’d like to do a little research, here’s a link for you … Continue reading Sheer Bonsai Power – Before & After

Omiya’s Pines, Bonsai Beauty & Heart

Combining two arts and two artists, here’s a small piece of the translation with this striking photo… “Daiki Abe: Bonsai Artist. Takashi Eguchi: Photographer. Name: the two exhibition of bonsai and photography ‘Pine Beauty heart'” There is no species given with this pine, but it looks like a Japanese white (Pinus parviflora). The photo is from Omiya Bonsai Museum’s timeline, along with more information on the display. The rest of the photos in this post are Japanese white pines, also from Omiya’s timeline, but not from this display We could go on indefinitely with photos from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. However, … Continue reading Omiya’s Pines, Bonsai Beauty & Heart

Another Mid Winter Tease

The new growth on Spruce is often a brilliant yellow. Almost like yellow flowers. In this case the spruce is an Ezo (Picea jezoensis). This one resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum as do the other trees in this post. Continuing with our long trek home from vacation, I found just enough time to sneak another one in from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Like yesterday it’s also from our archives (June, 2015). SITE WIDE SALE ENDS SOON 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS For a lot … Continue reading Another Mid Winter Tease

A Mid Winter Spring Color Tease

Today we begin the long two day journey from sea and sun back to waist high snow and sub zero temps. So no time to put together anything new for you, though this one is old enough (June, 2015) where it will be new to most of you anyway. They are all Azaleas (Satsuki, I think) from the Omiya Bonsai Museum. One of our favorites. Enjoy. SITE WIDE SALE ENDS SOON 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS 20% off Site Wide Sale YOU CAN ENJOY EXTRA DISCOUNTS IN … Continue reading A Mid Winter Spring Color Tease

Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and though the deadwood is prominent, it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees. But perhaps the best of all are are the brilliant living veins and the way they stand out against the deadwood Island hopping today, so to save precious time, we’re going to rerun a post on one of my favorite trees. This before and after is more about refinement than styling rough stock. Less daunting perhaps, but only someone skilled in the … Continue reading Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

Here’s Juan Adrade’s English caption for this magnificent old Trident maple. “Partial defolation on one of the grandfather trees. Close to 100 yrs old.” Here’s his Spanish: “Defoliación de las ramas exteriores en uno de los tridentes del abuelo de mi maestro. Este arbol posiblemente se acerca a los 100 años.” You might notice the part about exterior branches in the Spanish. This would indicate that Juan is redirecting energy away from the outer tips and down closer to the center of the tree. This photo is from Juan’s facebook feed. Defoliation is an important technique for redirecting energy, maintaining … Continue reading Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

Walter’s Wild Sabina Juniper

A recent photo of Walter Pall’s wild Sabina juniper. There’s a much older photo of this tree below Second leg of our journey to the sun this morning, so once again we’ll take the easy way out and continue with a Walter Pall posts from our archives. This one is from May 2017, with a newly discovered lead photo NEW SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF EVERYTHING A GOOD TIME TO STOCK UP – This photo of the same tree, guy wires and all, dates back quite a few years. We found it on The Art of Bonsai Project. The pot is by Bryan Albright … Continue reading Walter’s Wild Sabina Juniper